By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer
Three separate area traffic accidents last weekend resulted in numerous injuries to motorists, including a motorcyclist without a helmet struck by a driver distracted by her cell phone.
The 48-year-old Metamora motorcyclist was completely stopped at about 11:45 a.m., June 24, in the westbound lane of Seymour Lake Road, west of Baldwin Road, waiting for a vehicle in front of him to turn into a driveway when he was struck from behind by a Suburban driven by an 18-year-old woman from Clarkston.

“She was driving within the posted speed limit (50 mph) when she struck him. She never saw him— she was a distracted driver, messing with the GPS on her cell phone,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander. “The motorcycle lodged in the front of the Suburban and ejected the cyclist 115 feet.”
The man suffered numerous broken bones, a skull fracture, closed head injury and multiple lacerations to his head and face area. He was transported to McClaren Oakland Hospital and listed in critical condition, but was expected to recover. Glover said while he has seen many motorcycle accidents where he does not believe a helmet would have made a difference, but in this case, many of the man’s injuries could have been prevented with a helmet.
The accident, of course, could have been completely avoided had the driver of the Suburban been paying attention to the road rather than her phone. Distracted driving continues to be an issue statewide and Glover said an accident investigation team will determine what charges the Clarkston woman will face, likely careless driving resulting in injury.
OCSO deputies responded to two other injury accidents last weekend as well, one that occurred around 5 p.m., Friday, June 23 when a man driving a Chevy Blazer that also contained his wife and a small dog, turned southbound onto M-15 from the Bueche’s Food World parking lot into the path of a woman driving a Jeep. The man and both women were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The dog that was in the Blazer died. The accident investigation was turned over to Michigan State Police as it occurred in Groveland Township.
In the third accident, which occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m., June 25, a man driving a 2014 Honda CRV mini-van southbound on M-15 south of Glass Road ran off the road to the west, striking several small trees before hitting an unoccupied parked 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck. The driver and his female passenger were transported to St. Joe’s Hospital in Pontiac with non-life-threatening injuries. The man told police he had no idea what happened.